China Travel & Tourism News

National Geographic lists Malta as one of best places to visit in 2017 for culture

06-Dec-2016 - Xinhua

VALLETTA, Nov. 23 (Xinhua) -- Malta has been selected as one of the National Geographic Traveler's "Best destinations for 2017" recently.

The destinations were all chosen by the magazine's editors and fall into one of three categories: cities, nature and culture. Malta is in the top of culture categories.

Writing for National Geographic, author Lisa Abend writes: "Eager for its turn on the world stage, this tiny island nation in the Mediterranean Sea is embracing a reboot while holding fast to a formidable heritage."

"Storied land of the Knights of Malta, home to three World Heritage sites -- including the capital, Valletta -- and a recent headline-grabber as a setting for the television phenomenon Game of Thrones, Malta pivoted toward the future with the 2015 inauguration of architect Renzo Piano's reimagining of Valletta's old City Gate, Parliament building, and Opera House," Abend wrote.

There are variety of cultural activities occurring throughout the year in Malta, such as Carnival week in February; a number of three-day weekends celebrating feast days of various saints, known as traditional village festas, from late May to September.

Also popular is the annual Isle of MTV free outdoor mega-concert, and Malta Music Week in June.

Earlier this month Sport Diver Magazine readers voted Malta 3rd best diving destination in the world, placing just behind the Maldives and Egypt at this year's Sport Diver Awards.

This placed Malta as the most popular diving destination in the Mediterranean as voted for by thousands of Sport Diver readers.

Such events are expected to leave an impact on Malta's already thriving tourism industry. Official monthly figures published from Malta's National Statistics office have all seen an increase in tourists when compared with their corresponding months in 2015.